Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Samsung Galaxy Note II review Bigger better and more improved
Introduction
The original Galaxy Note was a runaway success despite all the doubts that its size and stylus caused. Its understandable then, why the new Samsung Galaxy Note II was greeted with so much excitement. It brings a new and improved screen, boosts processing power significantly and makes the S Pen even better.
The screen of the new phoneblet is quite interesting - Samsung moved it to 16:9 aspect ratio, so it matches the Galaxy S III and extended the diagonal to 5.5". But the Note II Super AMOLED display isnt just the Galaxy S IIIs screen upsized or even that of the original Note.
Specifications:
General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps; LTE 700/2100 MHz, 100Mbps down, 50Mbps up
Form factor: Touchscreen bar phoneblet
Dimensions: 151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm, 180 g
Display: 5.5" 16M-color HD (720 x 1280 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Gorilla Glass 2
Stylus: S Pen, 1024 pressure levels, hover functionality
Chipset: Exynos 4212 Quad
CPU: Quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 1.6 GHz processor
GPU: Mali-400MP
RAM: 2GB
OS: Android 4.1.1 (Jelly Bean) Memory: 16/32/64GB storage, microSD card slot
Still camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with backlit sensor, face detection and Best faces feature, touch focus and image stabilization;
Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps, LED flash, 1.9MP front facing camera, video-calls
Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL features (TV Out, USB host), GPS receiver with A-GPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, NFC
Battery: 3100 mAh
Misc: TouchWiz 4.0 UI, Extremely rich video/audio codec support, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor, RGB sensor, Smart stay eye-tracking, S Voice
A peek under a microscope revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Note II uses a completely new Super AMOLED matrix with three subpixels per pixel. Its an unusual matrix for sure, but it might be the sign of things to come for future Galaxy flagships.
The Galaxy Note II brings the second iteration of the S Pen. The new one is longer and thicker compared to the original, though not as big as the one in the Note 10.1. The new digitizer also offers a great deal of new features - better pressure sensitivity and hover detection of the stylus.
And there are some cool new software tricks to complement the improved stylus - the hover function triggers various previews (everything from email to video), the bigger button on the S Pen enables a variety of gestures and theres a new homescreen pane that automatically pops up when you use the stylus.
Speaking of software, the Galaxy Note II will be one of the first Samsung devices to launch with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box (along with the Galaxy Camera). The combination of the latest Android and the fast Exynos chipset with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz makes the Note II a performance beast.
At this point its clear, that we have one of the devices of the season on our hands here, so lets waste no more time and get down to testing.
Hardware overview
Well make a more detailed hardware inspection when we do a proper preview, but for this introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Note II well just cover the interesting bits.
The display and S Pen are arguably the most interesting hardware features, so they get their own chapters.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II takes the Galaxy S III design and upscales it. It has roughly the same surface area as the original Note, but is slightly taller and narrower. Its also a bit thinner and the weight is practically unchanged.
The narrower device does feel slightly better in the hand, but its still a large slab - its a full 10mm wider than the already big Galaxy S III. Yet the Samsung Galaxy Note II is not too hard to pocket - it might not fit every pocket, but its entirely possible to carry it around like a phone.
As far as connectivity goes, the Note II will come in two versions - HSPA+ and LTE. Both use the same Exynos chipset, but the LTE version has an additional modem (some Samsung handsets switch to a Qualcomm chipset for their LTE versions).
The Samsung Galaxy Note II only has a couple of wired ports, but between them they handle all the needed functionality.
The 3.5mm audio jack on top does wired headset and headphones duty, while the microUSB port on the bottom handles charging and data connection with a computer. Its also MHL-enabled, so you can output HD video through an HDMI adapter or use USB Host functions with another adapter.
The back of the phoneblet looks pretty barren - it houses an 8MP camera and a single-LED flash near the top and the loudspeaker near the bottom. The camera protrudes slightly, so the Note II rests on it when you place it on a level surface.
The 8MP camera, single-LED flash and loudspeaker are on the back • camera protrudes slightly
Samsung used the same hyperglazed plastic to construct the outer shell of the Galaxy Note II as on the Galaxy S III. It comes in Marble White and Titanium Grey. The back cover is removable and below it youll find the beefy 3100mAh battery along with the microSIM and microSD card slots. The SIM card is blocked by the battery.
There will be a flip cover accessory for the Note II. Its the same as the one the original Note and the Galaxy S III got. It replaces the back cover and provides protection for the screen. The flap is made of leather.
A lot of people were hoping that Samsung would move to a non-PenTile screen for the Galaxy Note II and the Koreans delivered. They changed other features of the screen too, like the surface on top, which is now Gorilla Glass 2.
Also, the diagonal grew to 5.5" (up from 5.3") and the aspect ratio changed - the Galaxy Note II uses a 720p screen (16:9) instead of WXGA (16:10).
What this amounts to is a taller, narrower screen (and consequently taller, narrower device) and a slightly reduced surface area - the Galaxy Note II screen has only 92% the surface area of that of the original Note. So, the increase in screen diagonal is a bit misleading, youre not getting more screen - its actually the opposite.
The removal of that 80-pixel wide strip also resulted in a slightly lower pixel density - 267ppi vs. 285ppi. The new matrix, however, makes up for that easily and the perceivable sharpness of the screen is actually higher.
Its no longer a PenTile matrix like on the original Note (which had a slight crosshatch patter noticeable, but only if you look really closely). Perhaps these photos snapped with a digital microscope will help clear up the differences in pixel arrangements.
The pixels of the Note II have one tall Blue sub-pixel on the left and smaller Green and Red pixels stacked one on top of the other. Its an odd arrangement, but it has three subpixels per pixel. The reason for the different Blue pixel is that Blue AMOLEDs typically have a shorter life and making them bigger balances things out. Also, the Blue pixel doesnt shine as brightly, which also improves its life, but doesnt affect color balance (because its bigger).
To illustrate how the different arrangement improves sharpness we used our microscope to snap a picture of very tiny text - the line width here is 1px, the font is white.
As you can see, the Galaxy Note II screen lights up individual pixels to display the 1px-wide lines. The old Galaxy Note, however, cant use a single pixel as each individual pixels cant make white, as it only has two of the three needed colors.
To fix that, the screen uses sub-pixel rendering, which "borrows" a subpixel from a neighboring pixel to make white. But now the line has become 1 2/3px wide.
This new arrangement seems to result in some very slight color aberrations around sharp edges, but it takes a great deal of eye-strain to try and see it.
One cool addition to the display settings is that even with Automatic brightness turned on, the brightness slider remains active. This allows you to fine-tune the brightness, but still have it adjust automatically to the environment.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II grew in size over the original and so did the new S Pen. The old one is about 10.4cm long and 5mm thick, while the new one measures 11.3cm in length and 7mm in thickness.
While nowhere near as comfortable as the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 10.1, the one that comes with the Note II feels more like a pen and less than a stylus, compared to the one inside the original Note.
The button on the S Pen now has a ribbed pattern, making it easier to find by touch (the old one is flat and flush against the surface, which made it tough to use).
The Galaxy Note II can detect when you pull the S Pen out and brings you to a contextual page, which offers shortcuts (with preview thumbnails) of your recent S Notes.
Since theres no lanyard linking the S Pen and the Galaxy Note II, the phoneblet uses its accelerometer to detect you walking away and will alert you if the stylus isnt in its slot. The feature is pretty conservative and wont trigger until youre several steps away - so you can walk and write without it bothering you, but if you really forgot it and walked away it will start beeping.
The new Samsung Galaxy Note II screen can detect the S Pen from a distance, similar to how the Galaxy Note 10.1 worked. The hover feature, called Air View, is not part of the stylus though, we tested the S Pen from the original Note and it worked just fine.
The Note II also features a more sensitive digitizer compared to the original. It can distinguish between 1024 different levels of pressure (quadruple what the original managed) and you can really feel the difference in the drawing apps - you get fine-grained control between thin and thick lines.
Camera and Video Recording
8MP camera with 1080p video recording
We wont spend too much time on the Samsung Galaxy Note II camera for now, but well revisit it in more detail in the preview.
It uses the same interface as the Galaxy S III and snaps up to 8MP stills and records 1080p@30fps videos. It has advanced features like burst shot, HDR, Share shot and Buddy photo share.
Samsung Galaxy Note II also has a feature called Best faces - it snaps a burst of 5 photos, keeping track of peoples faces. Later, you can pick any of the 5 photos for each persons face individually.
CONCLUSION
Our short time with the Samsung Galaxy Note II is over, but it was enough to whet our appetite and well surely be coming back for more.
The original Galaxy Note was virtually unchallenged in the phablet field, but it still faced the hard task of generating proper interest in the niche. The over 10 million units sold are the proof that it did a really good job. So in a way the Galaxy Note II is a lucky device - it comes in a market that is already starting to develop, but still devoid of any major competition. Now add the host of improvements it brings over its predecessor and things are looking really great for the Note II.
The way we see it, the Note II buyers will fall into two categories. First are the business people and artist who need the easy note taking, idea sketching or graphics tablet functionality.
The second category would be tech geeks who just want the big screen, powerful hardware and latest Android Jelly Bean goodness, with the S Pen being an extra rather than the central feature.
One thing is for sure though, the Note devices - both phablets and the tablet and tablet - have brought back the stylus from the brink of extinction. And while Android tablets are still having a bit of a struggle in the market, the Note hybrids are quickly conquering new ground for the Google OS.
No matter how you look at it, all indications point to the Galaxy Note II repeating - and most likely beating - the success of its predecessor. Heres hoping the good impressions stand after we spend a bit more time with the Note II.
